Page 57 of When the Marquess Was Mine
Georgiana had never liked Lady Capet, whose gossip always had a malicious tilt. “I had nothing of interest to say. I thought it best to refrain from proving it aloud.”
Instead of being pleased by this, Lady Sidlow stiffened. “Don’t be impertinent, Georgiana.”
Georgiana sighed and rolled her eyes, sipping more of her stone-cold tea.
“There!” Her chaperone seized on the gesture. “That is precisely what I mean! You are too obvious with your disdain, young lady.”
“It wasn’t disdain,” she said. “Nor was it impertinence. How many times have you told me to hold my tongue if I have nothing clever or thoughtful to say?”
Lady Sidlow rose, her feathers well and truly ruffled. “I daresay you’re set in your ways by now, despite my best efforts.”
Yes. Georgiana’s head bobbed slightly.Very set.
“I cannot say I’ll be sorry to let Lord Sterling take charge of you,” continued Lady Sidlow. “Perhaps he can make you see reason and sense. You give in to your feelings too much. A lady is more dignified and restrained. She does not show her disdain or impertinence; she projects a composed and gracious manner at all times. Did they teach you nothing at that school?”
Georgiana shot an annoyed look at the woman but the words spurred her thoughts. She’d been at school for ten years, from the time her mother died until she was eighteen. Alistair had wanted rid of her so desperately that he’d suggested sending her to an orphanage, before his steward had prevailed upon him to reconsider how that would look, an earl’s daughter in an orphanage.
But at school, she’d made friends who were closer than sisters. In her gloomy mood, she hadn’t even thought of going to one of them.
“Yes,” she said slowly, setting down her teacup. “Mrs. Upton taught me a great deal.” She got to her feet. “I’m going to Alwyn House.”
Lady Sidlow’s look of displeasure melted away at the mention of the home of the Duke and Duchess of Ware. It was only a few miles outside London. “Yes,” she said warmly, “that’s a wonderful idea.”
Georgiana remembered Lady Sidlow’s tirades when she had wanted to visit her friend before her marriage, when Sophie was supporting herself at the gaming tables and building a modest fortune of her own without help from anyone.ThenLady Sidlow had carried on about the unsuitability of their friendship, the impropriety of young ladies visiting each other without chaperones, the vaguely indecent and nefarious things she was sure Sophie was enticing Georgiana into doing. Since Sophie was the most levelheaded person she knew, Georgiana had ignored most of this.
All Sophie had to do was marry a duke, though, for Lady Sidlow’s objections to go up in smoke.NowLady Sidlow smiled benevolently upon the friendship and always allowed Georgiana to visit. Georgiana thought it terribly amusing that Sophie had turned so decidedly from being a terrible influence to being the best influence in the space of one marriage ceremony.
“I may spend the night,” Georgiana said. Once she told Sophie what brought her, her friend would insist she stay.
“Of course!” All approval now, Lady Sidlow nodded in agreement.
Georgiana told Nadine to pack a valise and gave her the night free. It was a fine day, the roads were dry, and it took only an hour to reach Alwyn House, the duke’s chateaulike house in the English countryside.
Sophie was delighted, if astonished, to see her. “I thought you were in Derbyshire!”
“I was.” Georgiana smiled brightly, hoping not to give everything away yet. “I came back.”
Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
Georgiana waved one hand. “The pleasures of town. You know I can’t bear to be away from it. Have I come at a horribly bad time?” The last time she’d gone to Chiswick unannounced, the duke and Sophie were newly married and Georgiana strongly suspected she’d interrupted a romantic moment.
Sophie smiled. “No. Is something the matter?”
Georgiana drew a deep breath. “We’re going to need tea. Vast quantities of tea.”
Even to her dearest friend, it was a difficult story to tell. She trusted Sophie more than any other person in the world, but certain parts still made her squirm to say them aloud. Once or twice Georgiana thought she detected a faint smile hovering over Sophie’s mouth, but when accused, the duchess protested that she was not laughing.
“I’m not,” she insisted. “It’s not a laughing matter.”
“No,” Georgiana groaned. “It’s like a farce that ends in tragedy.”
Sophie sipped her tea. “Tragedyis an interesting word.”
Georgiana flushed. “I shouldn’t have said that. It all came out well, didn’t it? Rob—Westmorland, I mean—has recovered his memory and gone home to his family. He’ll be vastly more comfortable there, and soon return entirely to himself.”
“His reprehensible self?” murmured Sophie.
Georgiana seized on it. “Yes! Doesn’t it seem likely?”
